Up the Creek

Harmonica Arch is in the southeast corner of the Lost Creek
Wilderness, in the general area of Cheesman Reservoir. Many hikers probably see
the arch from the popular Goose Creek Trail, but relatively few people actually
make the pilgrimage to this interesting geological feature. After taking this
short but strenuous hike, I came to realize that this is one of Colorado’s most
special places.

The Goose Creek Trailhead

The hike started out in the 138,000-acre Hayman Burn Area. A
careless and/or reckless Forest Service employee started the Hayman Fire in
2002. It looks like an atomic bomb was detonated over the area, but a closer
examination shows that yucca, gooseberry bushes, ponderosa pine seedlings, and
native grasses are thriving. Wildlife, primarily rabbits, coyotes, mule deer,
and big cats, are abundant.

Starting off into the Hayman burn area

Devastation caused by the Hayman fire

The trail starts off by descending into a drainage in the
burn area. We didn’t have to travel very far through the burn area. After a
short distance, the trail leveled off and entered the shade of a ponderosa pine
and douglasfir forest. The trail was icy, so Jay put his microspikes on. I took
my chances and skated along without much difficulty.

Entering the forest on the Goose Creek Trail

When the trail crossed Goose Creek at about 0.4 miles, we had
to make a decision. The Goose Creek Trail continued on the northeast side of
the creek, and another unnamed trail followed the southwest side of the creek.
The unnamed trail is the recommended route, but the snow was deep and the
travel would have been difficult. We chose to cross the bridge, continue on the
Goose Creek Trail, and cross the creek farther upstream at some point.

The bridge over Goose Creek

Looking upstream at the frozen Goose Creek

We followed the Goose Creek Trail for about a quarter mile,
and found a good opportunity to cross over to the other side. After another
quarter mile, we came to a small meadow with a good view of the arch.

View of the arch from the small meadow

Close-up of Harmonica Arch. The Organ Pipe is visible
just in front of the arch.

We followed a narrow trail up a gully to begin our ascent to
the arch. The north side of the gully was a jumble of house-sized boulders, so
we stayed on the south side. The Lost Creek Wilderness is famous for its
sculpted pink granite spires, hoodoos, towers, balanced rocks, and various
other structures. The gully had a lot of interesting scenery to offer:

Our trail became more faint and eventually disappeared. We
kept picking our way between the boulders and gaining altitude, but something
just didn’t seem right about the route. We backtracked to see if we could find
the right trail. We finally determined that we were in the wrong gully. We went
all the way back to Goose Creek, and made the call to keep going and find the
right gully. We continued upstream until the trail went up and over a small
rock outcropping. We slid down a small cliff, and found ourselves in an open
meadow with several nice campsites. There was a strong trail on the far side of
the meadow. We gained altitude rapidly in the gully.

Jay working his way up the trail

The trail was great, and had small rock cairns in all the
right places. We had no difficulty staying on course. The rockscape was just as
beautiful in this gully as it had been in the last. The huge granite dome was
the most impressive feature. The arch was on the far side of the dome, out of
sight. The organ pipe was clearly visible, looking…well…phallic.

The Organ Pipe

The granite dome

One might find any number of ways to meet an untimely end on
the granite dome. There was a nice grove of exceptionally large aspen at the
top of the gully.

Jay winding his way through the aspen grove

As we passed through the aspen, we hooked around to the
northeast and headed towards a massive granite basin on the west side of the
dome. A balancing rock guards the entrance to the basin.

Balancing rock at the entrance to the granite basin

The arch and the dome are not the highest points in the
area; unnamed Pt. 10,123 looms to the west, and there is a scenic rocky fortress
immediately to the north.

Scenery on the north side of the dome

The basin on the west side of the dome is deceptively steep,
but the granite’s grippy texture made it easy to ascend. It would be a
nightmare in icy conditions.

Ascending the dome from the granite basin

This hike would have been worth the effort just for the view
from the top of the dome. The beauty of the Goose Creek drainage is
incomparable. It’s fortunate that this area was spared from the ravages of the
Hayman Fire.

Looking north up the Goose Creek drainage from the top of the granite dome

The arch is not visible from the top of the dome. To reach
the arch, we hiked to the southeast. A deep crevice blocked our path, but we
were able to scramble across a narrow section of the imposing crack. The dome
is remarkably solid, but a number of limber pines have been able to gain a
toehold.

Limber pine (Pinusflexilis) near the
summit of the dome

After we passed over the crevice, we had to descend a very
steep portion of the dome. The traction was surprisingly good on the textured
granite. I headed straight towards the dome’s most prominent feature, the Organ
Pipe.

(Insert lewd caption here)

I stopped near the base of the Organ Pipe to take in the view
of the arch. The streaks on the arch that make it resemble a harmonica are
caused by water dripping from above. The rock beneath the arch was
uncomfortably steep, so I admired it from a distance. It is possible to walk
out on the arch, but part of it is an exposed knife edge with plenty of
potential for disaster.

Harmonica Arch

The monstrous helmet-shaped dome…the obscenely phallic Organ
Pipe…the magnificent arch…the balancing rocks…there aren’t many places in
Colorado that offer so much outstanding scenery on such a short hike. I was
grateful to be able to enjoy it on such a nice day in February.

We were able to avoid route-finding difficulties on the way
back, so the time seemed to fly by. I thought that it would be a good idea to
cross the stream and return by the Goose Creek Trail. I tried crossing the icy
creek, but wound up falling through the ice. The weather was pretty nice, so I
didn’t mind the wet feet. There was a nice log bridge just a short distance
downstream.

Log bridge across Goose Creek

The Goose Creek Trail was high above the creek bed at this
point, but an excellent spur trail eventually led us back to the main trail. Had
we taken this route on the ascent, we wouldn’t have spent two “bonus” hours
exploring the wrong gully. I’ll have to admit, though, that this was one of my
more scenic wrong turns. I slipped and slid a few times on the icy trail; Jay
kept his microspikes on, and had no problems.

Jay on an icy patch of trail

After enjoying all of the natural beauty of the Lost Creek
Wilderness, we ended the day on a sour note by hiking back through the Hayman
Burn. Even the scorched telegraph pole forest couldn’t diminish the impression
left by a day in one of Colorado’s most exceptional wilderness areas.